Vanessa Bryant Honors 19th Wedding Anniversary With Kobe: ‘I Wish You Were Here’

Vanessa Bryant honored her 19th wedding anniversary with late husband Kobe Bryant in a heartfelt Instagram post on Saturday.

The post featured an older picture of the couple embracing each other, with the NBA legend kissing his wife on the cheek.

“My king, my heart, my best friend,” Vanessa Bryant wrote in the caption. “Happy 19th wedding anniversary baby. I miss you so much. I wish you were here to hold me in your arms. I love you.”

Vanessa and Kobe Bryant wed on April 18, 2001, in Dana Point, California.

Earlier on Saturday, Vanessa Bryant shared an interview clip from 2001 that featured the NBA legend explaining how he knew his wife was “the one.”

“It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly makes a person the one for you, but you just know,” Kobe Bryant responded. “Love is a funny thing, and I can’t explain it and I don’t understand it. But all I know is she caught my heart and I just knew that she was the one.”

The Los Angeles Lakers legend added later in the interview that he envisioned Vanessa and him being “two cool-ass parents” in the future.

Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, in January, alongside the couple’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people.

The couple’s three other children are Natalia, Bianka and Capri.

On Friday, Gianna and two of her basketball teammates who were killed in the crash, Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester, were selected as honorary picks for the 2020 WNBA draft.